Night Walk 7/9 - A SUCCESS!

Nest 287, the sea turtle we witnessed!

After a strong thunderstorm in the afternoon, the skies cleared and we were able to continue with the walk portion of the program. After walking by the campground, we came across a nest that was possibly due to hatch. Well, this nest did not get the memo to wait and the hatchlings had already come and gone. We continued our walk to the inlet where we came across a set of tracks belonging to a false crawl.

On our way back to the inlet, we were still hopeful for a sight of a sea turtle. Well thankfully, nest 10 decided to wait for our group and shortly after we arrived, the nest starting to emerge! It was an amazing sight with many hatchlings making their way to the water. It was a low tide, so they had a long trek to the sea. We stuck by the final hatchling and ensured it entered the ocean safely.

The turtle vibes were high after the nest "boil" and then we were hoping to see the nesting adult. Well, not too far, down the beach and we had a sea turtle that had recently emerged. We had the opportunity to watch her lay her eggs, cover and return. She was a larger turtle, with her carapace measuring in at 44 inches. 

The following morning the dawn patrol team documented 6 new nests bringing our tally up to 289 nests. There were only 2 nests that emerged last night. The nest we witnessed last night is marked as 287 on our state park beach.